Pedestrians shelter from rain under umbrellas as they walk along the street during rush hour in Copenhagen, Oct. 27, 2025. AFP-TNS

What if the secret to happiness was … low expectations?

Most residents of rich, Western countries have relatively high earnings, but many also feel they can’t afford a reasonable lifestyle. Americans, for example, are getting richer but also more unhappy. Meanwhile Eastern Europeans, not generally known for their cheery disposition, are most satisfied with their comparatively lower income.

In 2018, research psychologists at Purdue and the University of Virginia compiled data from previous surveys to estimate how much income people needed to be happy. They found that, even after adjusting for purchasing power, people needed more money in richer countries. Recently the same data was adjusted for inflation and compared to average earnings in each country.

Residents of Eastern European countries tend to earn at least 70% of what they think they need to be happy, though it also does not take so much to feel satisfied. Slovenians are the most content with their earnings: Theirs is the only........

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